Arctic–alpine

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title: "Arctic–alpine" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["biogeography"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic–alpine" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

| header = Examples of Arctic–alpine plants | direction = vertical | width = 240 | image1 = Oxyria digyna IMG 3642 fjellsyre longyeardalen.JPG | caption1 = Oxyria digyna growing in the Svalbard archipelago (Arctic; 78° N; near sea level) | image2 = Mountain sorrel Oxyria digyna.jpg | caption2 = Oxyria digyna growing in the Californian Sierra Nevada (alpine; 38° N; 3300 m above sea level) | image3 = Silene acaulis LC0153.jpg | caption3 = Silene acaulis growing in northern Norway (Arctic; 67° N; 100 m above sea level) | image4 = Silene acaulis (2).JPG | caption4 = Silene acaulis growing in the Austrian Alps (Alpine; 47° N; 2200 m above sea level) An Arctic–alpine taxon is one whose natural distribution includes the Arctic and more southerly mountain ranges, particularly the Alps. The presence of identical or similar taxa in both the tundra of the far north, and high mountain ranges much further south is testament to the similar environmental conditions found in the two locations. Arctic–alpine plants, for instance, must be adapted to the low temperatures, extremes of temperature, strong winds and short growing season; they are therefore typically low-growing and often form mats or cushions to reduce water loss through evapotranspiration.

It is often assumed that an organism which currently has an Arctic–alpine distribution was, during colder periods of the Earth's history (such as during the Pleistocene glaciations), widespread across the area between the Arctic and the Alps. This is known from pollen records to be true for Dryas octopetala, for instance. In other cases, the disjunct distribution may be the result of long-distance dispersal.

Examples of Arctic–alpine plants include:

• Arabis alpina
• Betula nana
• Draba incana
• Dryas octopetala
• Gagea serotina (syn. Lloydia serotina)
• Loiseleuria procumbens
• Micranthes stellaris
• Oxyria digyna
• Ranunculus glacialis
• Salix herbacea
• Saussurea alpina
• Saxifraga oppositifolia
• Silene acaulis{{cite journal |author1=S. R. Hagen |author2=G. G. Spomer |year=1989 |title=Hormonal regulation of growth form in the Arctic–Alpine cushion plant, Silene acaulis |journal=Arctic and Alpine Research |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=163–168 |jstor=1551628}}
• Thalictrum alpinum
• Veronica alpina

References

References

1. (2009). "Relict Species: Phylogeography and Conservation Biology". [[Springer Science+Business Media.
2. Heather Pardoe. (1995). "Mountain Plants of the British Isles". [[National Museums and Galleries of Wales]].
3. Harry Godwin. (1956). "The History of the British Flora: a Factual Basis for Phytogeography". [[Cambridge University Press]].
4. (2006). "Refugia, differentiation and postglacial migration in arctic-alpine Eurasia, exemplified by the mountain avens (''Dryas octopetala'' L.)". [[Molecular Ecology]].
5. (1999). "Reproductive biology and genetic structure in ''Lloydia serotina''". [[Plant Ecology]].
6. (2009). "High mountains of the Japanese archipelago as refugia for arctic–alpine plants: phylogeography of ''Loiseleuria procumbens'' (L.) Desvaux (Ericaceae)". [[Biological Journal of the Linnean Society]].
7. Norman Dignard. (2006). "''Micranthes stellaris'' (Saxifragaceae), new to Québec". [[Rhodora (journal).

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